Chà Chà Novel

Yu Ning knew what he was doing was low, no different from a divorced parent using the kids to get leverage over their ex. But he had no other choice. If he didn’t find a way in and hold on tight to every chance he got, he would lose Su Nuo completely all over again.

He was grateful he had come back to this point in time, when the ties between him and Su Nuo still couldn’t be cut.

At the very least, the cat they had adopted together was one of them.

When Yu Ning mentioned Qiaoqiao, Su Nuo’s thoughts stalled. Qiaoqiao was already an old cat. In his past life, she died before he even graduated from college. She didn’t have much time left, and he couldn’t bring himself to abandon her.

Su Nuo frowned. He wasn’t in a good mood. What had happened had already happened, and he couldn’t just force his way in and take the cat now. Besides, he couldn’t take care of her himself. He’d only be able to board her at a pet shop. It was better to let Yu Ning take care of Qiaoqiao in her last days, so at least she’d still have an owner who loved her.

“Qiaoqiao got sick a few days ago. She can barely eat. Will you come see her and comfort her a little? Please?” Yu Ning was practically begging.

Su Nuo pulled his hand free, his expression cold. “I’ll go see Qiaoqiao tomorrow.”

Yu Ning’s face lit up instantly, his eyes bright. “Really? I’ll be waiting!”

Su Nuo didn’t answer him. He looked down at his WeChat messages and walked straight off.

The restaurant was downtown, not far from where they lived, so Fu Baihan got there quickly. When Su Nuo saw his car, he walked over and got into the passenger seat.

“Not happy?” Fu Baihan buckled his seatbelt for him. His jacket brushed against Su Nuo’s cheek, and mixed in with the light, familiar scent Su Nuo knew so well was a faint trace of cigarette smoke.

Su Nuo sighed. “Brother, you’ve been smoking. Stay away from me.”

Fu Baihan flicked his forehead with a knuckle. “Then get out and walk home yourself, little lazy piggy. You want a ride even this close?”

“I’m saying it for your own good. Look at how old you are already…”

Fu Baihan smiled. “Nuonuo, want to try finishing that sentence?”

Under his not-so-friendly stare, Su Nuo wisely changed the subject. “I’m just worrying about you on Auntie’s behalf!”

“Oh? Little nag. Other people’s girlfriends aren’t even this strict.” Fu Baihan chuckled, amused at how the kid backed down in a split second.

“So grumpy. It’d be a miracle if you ever found a girlfriend…” Su Nuo muttered. He really had never seen Fu Baihan with a date. Plenty of people wanted to latch onto him, but he had a talent for scaring them off before they even got close.

None of the Fu men had any real bad habits. They’d always been disciplined. But because of business dinners, they did drink and smoke sometimes, just not often. Since Su Jing’s health was fragile, they were all very careful about it and never let her be bothered in the slightest.

Fu Baihan freed up one hand and squished both of Su Nuo’s cheeks so he couldn’t talk. “Kids don’t need to worry about grown-up stuff.”

Su Nuo rolled his eyes at him as hard as he could.

After they got home and parked, Su Nuo followed Fu Baihan around like a little tail. “Brother, were you not happy today either? Tell me about it, I’ll cheer you up.”

“You want to hear it?” Fu Baihan pressed the elevator button and looked down at him. “The stock market today…”

“Stop!” Su Nuo grabbed his arm. “Brother, I can’t help you with the stock market. You’ll have to get through that one on your own.”

Fu Baihan laughed and took his hand to lead him into the elevator. “Fine, no need to cheer me up. Then tell me, why weren’t you happy today?”

He hadn’t missed that little word “either.” But what could have happened at a class reunion? Wasn’t his kid really popular in class? Surely he hadn’t confessed to some girl and gotten rejected.

“Because tomorrow I have to go to Yu Ning’s house to see Qiaoqiao…” Su Nuo didn’t hide it. Fu Baihan knew everyone in his circle of friends anyway. Sooner or later he’d find out that Su Nuo and Yu Ning had fallen out.

“Mm. I can’t drive you tomorrow unless you leave at eight in the morning,” Fu Baihan said.

“I didn’t ask you to drive me!” Su Nuo smacked him lightly. “It’s just… I don’t want anything to do with Yu Ning, but I have to go see Qiaoqiao.”

“Then just see the cat.” Fu Baihan didn’t ask what had happened between him and Yu Ning. To him, if it was something the kid could handle himself, there was no need to dig into it.

With Fu Baihan sidetracking him like that, Su Nuo couldn’t even piece his bad mood back together. Whatever Yu Ning had stirred up just melted away as they chatted about everyday little things.

“Go to bed early. No staying up late playing games,” Fu Baihan reminded him as they got inside.

“You’re not going to rest?” Su Nuo followed him upstairs.

“Gym time.” Fu Baihan turned around. “Want to come lift some weights?”

“I’m going to go lie down. See you tomorrow, Brother.” Su Nuo put on his best good-boy act.

Fu Baihan ruffled his hair and didn’t say anything, letting him go off and do his own thing.

Su Nuo dug out the cat food, canned cat food, and cat toys he’d stocked up on before, and packed them all up to bring over tomorrow.

Thinking about going to Yu Ning’s house, he sat on the edge of the bed. He still couldn’t be completely cold about it.

He had grown up in an orphanage. It was only because the Fu family started sponsoring it that year that the orphanage could afford to send the kids to good schools. But every semester, the teachers would make special announcements about him, so Su Nuo never had many friends, and people always looked at him differently.

“He’s the one from the orphanage.”

“The teacher told us to look after him. So annoying.”

“So he doesn’t have a mom and dad? That’s so sad.”

……

Line after line, it kept his head down through all of elementary school. He felt sad and hurt, but there was nothing he could do.

Because everything they said was true. No one wanted him. He was an orphan. He lived on donations from kind strangers and money from the school.

Only Yu Ning treated him like a normal person, with no pity and no contempt. He played with him and helped him fit in with the other kids. Su Nuo had once relied on Yu Ning even more than on Fu Baihan. After all, he and Yu Ning had been together for more than ten years.

The closer they had been, the harder it was for him to forgive the betrayal.

To this day, Su Nuo didn’t understand why Yu Ning had sided with Su Yujin. Chu Boyan had liked Su Yujin from the start, and he and Wei Sinian had never been that close. But Yu Ning? Yu Ning was the friend he had grown up with!

He’d never thought about using his second chance to stop Su Yujin or win Yu Ning back. So they were right after all. He really was vicious. He really was mean.

Even back in a timeline where the other person didn’t know anything yet, he still couldn’t help holding it against him.

That’s just how Su Nuo’s feelings were: honest and straightforward. Who he liked and who he disliked was written all over his face. He couldn’t be bothered to pretend.

He’d spent too long being timid and careful at an age when he shouldn’t have had to grow up so fast. He didn’t want to live behind a mask anymore.

He wasn’t the kid who could only write “orphanage” in the home address box anymore. He had family. He was loved. He could whine and act spoiled if he wanted to.

So what if he had a bad temper? He didn’t need to please the people who had broken his heart. Not taking revenge out of spite was already the most rational he could manage.

Just like his brother said: he was going to see the cat, and that was all.